J.T. Miller says his Canucks teammates chirp him for living in West Van
J.T. Miller interrupted a quiet Vancouver Canucks offseason today with an in-depth interview on The Cam and Strick Podcast.
Speaking with former NHL enforcer Cam Janssen and longtime St. Louis hockey reporter Andy Strickland, Miller opened up about a number of topics that caught the ear of Canucks nation.
One of those topics was life away from the rink during the hockey season.
Miller, who has played for three teams during his 11-year NHL career said that Tampa was the most “blue-collar place” he’s played in. He compared Vancouver to New York City, saying it’s “kind of similar, just a lot less people.”
“You get used to it, but where I come from it’s a lot different,” said the native of East Palestine, Ohio, who lives in Pittsburgh during the offseason.
“I like playing in Canada. Definitely, it’s a passionate fan base.”
If there’s a player on the Canucks that would know about the passion of the fan base, it’s Miller. The 30-year-old has been a lightning rod of criticism in the last two seasons in particular, despite posting the best numbers of his career.
No player has scored more points in a Canucks uniform since the start of the 2019-20 season than Miller, who has 299 points in 283 games since arriving in Vancouver. Miller led the Canucks in points (99) by a wide margin in 2021-22, and was better than a point-per-game (82 points in 81 games) last season.
The lack of team success, combined with Miller’s age and contract situation made him a natural trade target for other teams though. Trade rumours, often stemming outside of Vancouver from national insiders, have followed him for a year and a half.
But Miller is still here and now controls his own destination after his no-movement clause kicked in on July 1.
While many of Miller’s teammates live downtown, close to Rogers Arena, he and his family live in West Vancouver. He said he’s the only member of the team that lives on the North Shore.
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“I can [have downtime], for sure. I live in West Vancouver, so I’m on the North Shore and I’m the only guy over there. It reminds me of home a little more. It’s peaceful, it’s quiet,” said Miller.
“The people that live over there, it’s an older crowd, it’s not like downtown. They’re very respectful, it’s more of a ‘nice game’ or ‘nice turnover’ or whatever the hell they want to say. But it’s quick and to the point.”
On getting respectfully chirped, Miller said he doesn’t mind it.
“Listen, they’re passionate. I wouldn’t have hit any other way.”
Miller also gets chirped by his own teammates for living on the North Shore, given the commuting time. While he agreed the Lions Gate Bridge can sometimes be a “sh*t show,” Miller doesn’t seem to mind the travel time.
“The guys give me a hard time all the time for commuting an hour in and out. But it’s not that bad. It takes me probably 15-20 minutes in the morning and then 15-20 minutes post-game. I guess the hard part really is, it’s called the Lions Gate Bridge, it’s going from downtown to the North Shore. It can be a sh*t show, no doubt. It’s only three lanes. You got the [Vancouver Island] traffic, the Whistler traffic. Like I said, a lot of people in a small place.”
Fans on the North Shore can probably relate. Miller said he gets to Rogers Arena early, at around 4 pm for a 7 pm game.
“I try to leave around 3:20 or so, or 3:30. I would say on average, about 30-35 minutes. Honestly, when I came into the league and was playing for the Rangers, it took me 35 minutes to go 15 blocks. [So this] seems like nothing.”
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